Endless Flames (Surviving Ashes, Book Four) (25 page)

B
erke laced his
fingers with Maxie’s, immediately noticing she’d cracked the leather band of her watch. He would have said something had they not all been listening in on Steven Allman’s transmission as he tried to negotiate where the exchange of prisoners should take place. It didn’t help that Truman’s parting words reverberated over and over in Berke’s ears…
by blood, not bond
.

Could it be true?

Regardless, Truman had been right about the location. Tank had suggested the old fisherman’s cabin on the other side of Snowy Peak and the old man wasn’t budging. It appeared Truman might actually have a chance of making it back in time to join them for this unavoidable confrontation.

Then what?

Presuming all went according to plan—which nothing ever did in these types of situations—how would Van react to this announcement? It never once crossed Berke’s mind that Van suspected or was actually aware he had a brother, because he would have told them during the endless amount of conversations they’d had along those lines. They all had a connection because of their upbringing and understood how important family was to one another. Van would have moved heaven and earth to find a sibling if he had known.

“…only you and Webb. Your other Marines stay behind,” Allman tried to bargain, fighting a losing battle. “I’ll be waiting with Van Overton and then we can discuss things.”

“There’s nothing to discuss here.” Tank wasn’t one to negotiate and he’d walk away if Allman didn’t agree to his demands. That had already taken place twice to where Allman eventually radioed back. It was a game of cat and mouse, and Tank was a fucking lion—king of his domain. “You’ll meet with two of my men who will give you Webb in exchange for Overton. I’ve already informed you we will sweeten our offer by providing you with a three-month supply of provisions that will last you until the National Guard comes through. Take it or leave it.”

The silence was telling, because there wasn’t a chance in hell Allman would take that offer. He wouldn’t leave it either. He was going to force their hand and so be it, as long as they had Van in their possession when all was said and done.

Berke glanced up from where Maxie was currently squeezing his hand in reassurance to find that his other teammates were in similar positions. They each had their support system and they stood side-by-side, ready to fight for one of their own. Henley was sitting next to Mav, who was listening closely as Tank made his demands. Owen was standing by the small coffee table with Prue leaning against him, holding his arms around her waist and looking up at him with encouragement. Mason was staring at the radio as if he would pull his weapon out and squeeze the trigger, eliminating the man responsible for this impossible situation. Brenna had her hand on his shoulder with a determined expression that conveyed she’d actually help him if she thought that would make him feel better.

There wasn’t such a simple solution, though.

No amount of wishing was going to make this situation go away. They would have to resort to their earlier training and past life experiences in order to have a future.

“You don’t give an inch, do you, old man?” Allman hadn’t said that with respect, the way Truman had addressed Maxie early this morning. Allman had also done away with radio protocol. He spoke like they were all sitting down in a boardroom, conducting a meeting. Business was now concluded. “Fine. We’ll meet at the cabin in four hours. Know this—I’ll put a bullet in Overton’s head if I think this is going south in any way.”

“I have no doubt,” Tank responded, signing out in a rather unconventional way and then leaning back against the black leather chair as if he’d run a marathon.

Berke didn’t like to see the weight of responsibility cross his old tank commander’s features. This man was more than a former leader. He was a father figure to all of them, a soundboard of knowledge, and a conscience when one was needed. His salt and pepper hair had become whiter and the laugh lines around his eyes were deeper due to concern. Age was settling in, but it wasn’t the reason for the physical transformation. That was solely due to pressure to keep those under him safe and there wasn’t a thing any of them could do to lessen his burden.

“It’s nothing more than a setup that removes two trained shooters from the compound’s defenses at a minimum,” Mason said, announcing his thoughts on the long, drawn-out negotiation. He’d always been the pessimist of the group and that wasn’t likely to change, not even with Brenna by his side. “We don’t even know if Van is still—”

“Van can take care of himself.” Owen was never the one to consider the worst case scenario or zero sum. He looked over to where Moreau, Sealey, and Fairfax were congregated around a table that held a pile of unboxed 5.56mm ammunition bandoliers. Berke couldn’t help but wonder if they’d known all along the reason Truman had shown up in Lost Summit. He had many unanswered questions, but he wasn’t likely to get answers from this group anytime soon. “Ann and I will leave now to scout the area. Give us a half hour head start to notify you if we feel we need to abort the mission due to an ambush along the route. We’ll get there much quicker, in under three hours. You’ll take nearly the full four considering your load with Webb.”

The logistics had already been laid out during the downtimes throughout the negotiations. Owen and Ann would do exactly what he’d just said, while Mav and Berke would be the ones to trek Webb north over the top of the valley and then east around Snowy Peak down another valley slope over the lake that the cabin was on, which was the exchange point. Sealey and Fairfax would team up to take the left flank, while Mason and Maxie screened the right. Brenna and Prue would pull up the six, far enough back that the entire team’s supply of horses couldn’t be heard. They had to have a quick way back to base camp in case Van needed immediate medical attention or it came under determined attack.

Tank had even included 50mm mortar with ten HE and ten WP round in their pack for the rear party. With a little practice with the T&E, those girls could put some serious hurt on an advancing enemy group.

As for the lodge, Tank and Henley would stay behind and monitor the perimeter via the security feeds. Jeremy, Rob, Dylan, Missy, and all the other roving sentries would be assigned to their regular sentry positions in order to prevent an end-run incursion by the opposition. The residents of the main lodge would be brought down to the bunker, congregating on the second level in the living spaces. Jacob would be among them, not that his safe location would keep Maxie from worrying…or Berke, for that matter.

If the incursion manifested itself as anything more than a probing action during the team’s absence, the security perimeter would collapse back to the lodge and back through the tunnel to secure locations with the bunker.

The main above ground entrance into the bunker complex was defended by heavy vault doors, as well as interlocking fields of fire from twin machine gun nests sixty feet above the approach to the door. Two shooters could quickly turn a platoon of tangos into hamburger from those secure overwatch positions while the recent addition of statically placed Claymore mines would finish the rest.

It went unsaid that Jason Wick’s absence left a gaping hole in everything that went on here, but it especially affected his father and brother. Berke hadn’t seen either one of them since he’d returned, but he hadn’t wanted to push his presence onto them when they weren’t ready. The culpability of the situation that got their kin killed fell directly on Berke’s shoulders. He’d come to terms with his involvement with Maxie’s help, but that didn’t mean those affected the worst had accepted the dominoes of this apocalyptic disaster and the loss of their family member. He’d just been a number and there was no doubt more pieces would fall soon.

“Truman took the Mule minus the trailer,” Henley publicized, not that everyone hadn’t figured that out already. Berke noticed that Moreau didn’t flinch, although Sealey and Fairfax both shared a glance. Had Ann known all along about Truman’s connection to Van? Why come here and not New York? It made no sense. “From what Berke shared with us, Kellen might very well be able to make it back to the exchange point as he said.”

“He’ll be there,” Moreau affirmed, having full faith in her leader. Again, Berke had to wonder what their endgame was. “Quade, let’s get our head start. We’re burning daylight. I think we can all agree we want this over with as soon as possible.”

Ann wasn’t just referring to Van’s rescue and most everyone caught on to her double innuendo. No one talked about it though until after she’d left the room with Owen, who had kissed Prue and ordered her to be safe covering their six. The brunette firecracker shot back a smartass remark, but the tension in the room prevented anyone from laughing.

“Is it true?” Mason asked, standing while still holding onto Brenna’s hand. “Is your buddy somehow related to Van or is that just bullshit he’s spreading around so your asses don’t get kicked out of here?”

“Mason,” Tank warned, smoothing down his mustache as he took in the two men who were now standing at attention at Mason’s accusation. Berke could see that they did have an inclination of the truth, but it didn’t matter now. The cat was out of the bag and there was no getting it back inside. “That’s between Kellen and Van. It’s not your problem unless Van wants you to be included.”

“Is it really between Truman and Van?” Mav asked quietly, garnering everyone’s attention. He set the tip of a pen on the table, running his fingers down the length of it, only to flip it over and start again as he carefully thought over his words. “Truman could very well say he didn’t go to New York because he was aware of the pending eruption and thought Van would extend his annual vacation, but Truman had made his reservation months in advance. There’s no way in hell he could have timed Yellowstone’s explosion with that much precision.”

“You should stay a few days longer,” Tank pressed upon Van as they all sat down for a game of poker. “Mav and I plan to take the boat out tomorrow to the old river bend hole. Your favorite spot.”

“I wish I could,” Van expressed with regret, reaching for the cold beer Mason had set down in front of him. He picked up the two cards Owen had dealt, not once altering his expression. “I’ve got a meeting tomorrow afternoon with a potential high net-worth client. My flight should get me there with just enough time to make it into the city for our initial consultation.”

Berke slowly met Tank’s unflinching gaze as the threads began to sew themselves together. That wasn’t the only time during their annual vacation that Tank had tried to get Van to stay a few days longer, but no one had thought anything of it. He was always wrangling another day or two out of them, but Mav was the one who usually caved.

It also validated Tank’s willingness to permit Truman and his group’s involvement without too much hesitation. He’d already known Kellen.

“Truman’s gone off to get the military involved, or at least those servicemen and women who can be spared from their duties at the Air Force base,” Berke exclaimed, covering for Tank should someone else finally figure it out. He wasn’t sure why he was doing so, considering they weren’t the type of unit to keep secrets from one another. But this was Tank. He would have had a damned good reason. “Let’s hope he makes it to the rendezvous, because I sure as hell wouldn’t mind some backup in the form of some Air Force Security Forces personnel.”

Berke reached out a hand to Maxie, who didn’t hesitate to reach for him. She was by his side with one step and the warmth of her body reminded him of what they’d face. The past wouldn’t matter if today’s mission failed. He certainly didn’t like that he and Maxie would be separated from each other on this mission, but he had full confidence in her ability to keep herself safe. He’d never say anything otherwise, but he was also damned glad that Mason would be by her side.

It was best he clear his mind of the drama that had been unfolding and concentrate on the task at hand. Everyone started to file out the door one by one.

“Berke, I’d like a minute,” Tank requested, looking over at Henley who reached for her coffee and stood, all the while giving Berke a confused look. It was apparent no one else had connected the dots up to this point. “Please.”

“I’ll meet you at the front entrance,” Berke murmured to Maxie, leaning down to kiss her. Her blue eyes narrowed as he pulled away, letting him know she was aware something was up. “It’s okay. I promise.”

Maxie finally followed Henley out the door, her fingers sliding slowly out of his until Berke dropped his arm by his side. He inhaled some oxygen to keep the anger from building. He hadn’t allowed it to boil over due to a myriad of reasons, but now?

“Why would you keep something like that from Van and the rest of us?” Berke accused, turning to the one man who was more of a father figure to him than any other. Tank took off his baseball cap and set it beside an empty cup of coffee, signaling he’d been here all night looking for a way to retrieve Van with minimal casualties. Berke’s anger began to subside, but not enough that he didn’t want answers. “You tried a million times to get Van to extend his vacation and stay behind. You knew. You knew Van had a brother and you didn’t say anything the entire time he was here. Why? Why would you do that when you know how much family means to us?”

“I’d heard from an old buddy of mine at the Marine Corps Combat Development Command (MCCDC) in Quantico that someone was asking questions about Van up at the Pentagon on the Navy E-ring,” Tank finally admitted, running a hand through his coarse salt and pepper hair. His blue eyes were like lasers as they rested on Berke, almost as if they were willing him to understand. “I did a little recon and discovered that some active duty Army Long Tabber named Kellen Truman had been digging deep into Van’s past. I wanted to know why, but he and his team were out of the country playing tag with the Taliban. That gave me time to do some research of my own.”

“And?” Berke asked, not willing to accept Tank’s response to Mason’s question anymore. He’d invalidated the claim that this was a personal matter between Truman and Van the moment he got involved. “What did you find?”